Towards Terabit Per Second Optical Networks

Abstract:

The seemingly insatiable demand for telecommunications bandwidth is driving rapid developments in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) technologies. This talk will describe recent developments in a number of components and sub-systems for WDM applications, including wavelength converters and cross-connects. Some key research directions in the area of optical networking will be identified.

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Rodney Tucker is Professor and Coordinator of Telecommunications Research at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Director of the University of Melbourne's Photonics Research Laboratory. He has previously held positions at Plessey Research, UK, and AT&T Bell Laboratories. He is currently a Visiting Professor at Hewlett Packard Laboratories, CA.

Professor Tucker has extensive research and development experience in industry and academia in the area of optical telecommunications. His areas of expertise include high-speed semiconductor lasers, integrated photonics and integrated optoelectronics, optical switching devices and systems, dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM), multi-channel optical cross-connects, optical add-drop multiplexing, optical access technologies, and microwave photonics. He has published more than 200 research papers and book chapters in the areas of microwave circuits, optoelectronic devices, optical communications, and photonics. He holds several patents and has participated in the formation of several companies in the optical communications area.

Professor Tucker is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. In 1995, the Institution of Engineers Australia awarded him the Sargent Medal for outstanding achievement in Electrical Engineering. In 1997 he was a winner of the Australia Prize, Australia's highest award in Science and Technology, for his contributions to Telecommunications.